Public Affairs Section
To an organization like the Department
of Conservation a good public information
program is a vital part of its overall aim,
because public knowledge and support is
necessary for any other program to succeed.
This is even more true of an agency created
by initiative, because citizens take a proprietary interest in their creation.
Public information work in Missouri conservation had its genesis in the administration
of Keith McCanse of the old Fish and Game
Commission in 1925-1929. McCanse hired the
first director of public information, Neal
Walker, in 1927. McCanse initiated and edited
Missouri Game and Fish News. This was a
“digest” type publication with good photographs and illustrations, but was published
only erratically. In 1928, the first motion
picture on Missouri wildlife, The Outdoor
Life History of Missouri, was completed. It
was also under McCanse that fishing condition
reports were first issued. McCanse became so
interested in the relatively new medium of
radio that he left the Fish and Game Department to pursue a career in that field.
At the meeting with conservation experts
from around the country, called by the Cornmission on September 25, 1937, one of the
six recommendations made to the Commission was that it “should conduct the activity
In 1949, this mobile exhibit made the rounds of county fairs to introduce Missourians to their wild
inheritance.
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of public relations, with particular reference
to education and farmer participation in wildlife conservation.”
In late 1937, Director Irwin T. Bode presented to the Commission a proposed table
of organization that contained what he called
an “Information Service Division.”
As proposed, there would be three sections: a “general information section” that
would produce publications, exhibits, visual
aids, and utilize radio and news releases; a
future “field service section” whose duties
would be contacting Federation clubs for program assistance (evidence of Bode’s “extension” philosophy); and a future "junior education section,” to prepare teaching materials
in cooperation with the State Department of
Education, and to work with 4-H and other
youth programs.
He already had a publicity man, Eugene
L. Preston, inherited from the old Fish and
Game Department, but Preston left shortly
after the Commission was formed. In his
place Bode hired Townsend Godsey, who had
been a publicity man for the Fish and Game
Department from 1929 to 1933, losing that
job when Wilbur Buford became director.
Godsey was the state’s second conservation public information officer, hired in 1929,
to assist the administration of Delph Simons
and later, that of John Ross. He had a background in newspaper work in the St. Joseph
and Kansas City areas before service with the
Fish and Game Department. It was Godsey
who began the use of radio in 1930, broadcasting about fish and wildlife topics via station WOS (later KWOS) from the Capitol
rotunda. Godsey was a fine photographer and
he produced three motion pictures on Missouri state parks and one on Lake of the
Ozarks, before losing his job to a new administration. Godsey stayed in the Jefferson
City area and was hired for occasional work
by Buford during his administration.
Under Bode, Godsey was given four and
one-half percent of the Department’s budget
for his information program; his staff consisted of himself and two clerks. He utilized
the motion picture medium to produce a film
series, Conservation Newsreel, which was
distributed to motion picture theaters. At
Sydney Stephens’ urging he produced the first
feature motion picture, Back to Missouri,
which cast the Commission in the role of
vital link between landowners and sportsmen.
The film was in 35 mm format and was a
great hit when shown widely in theaters over
the state.
In July, 1938, Godsey began publication
of the Missouri Conservationist. He set up
the Department’s film library for loan of
motion pictures, and began issuing a weekly
news release on Department and conservation
topics to all news outlets. Department personnel also began appearing on radio under
Godsey’s guidance.
The Fish and Game Department had
been involved for a number of years in exhibit work at the State Fair, and in 1936, that
department had exhibited for the first time
at a St. Louis sports show. Godsey was to
continue this.
In June, 1938, Bode hired Wallace Gray
as a Field Service agent, initially assigning him
to the Information Division, but Bode later
transferred the field service function to the
Fish, Game and Forestry Division. Writing in
the Federation’s publication, The Conservationist’ in July, 1938, Bode said, “This fulltime field man will devote his time to the
educational and informational program, especially assisting conservation groups in organizing local programs and to development
of farmer-sportsmen cooperative activities.” It
was the beginning of the field service program
of the Department.
A significant public information effort,
begun in 1939, was Forestry Division’s Showboat, a van equipped with a portable generator that was sent into the Ozarks to show
motion pictures about forest fire prevention
and related conservation topics. Though not
a part of the formal Information program, it
is typical of the ecumenical approach to conservation information and education that has
been a hallmark of the Department, where
every employee is expected to be an apostle
for its programs.
l Title was later changed to Missouri Wildlife to avoid confusion with the Department’s Missouri Conservationist magazine.
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Schoolchildren sat with rapt attention when the
“Showboat” showed conservation filmstrips in 1946.
For many, these were the first films they had ever
seen.
When Godsey resigned in 1941, Information still was a one-man show, but he had
established all of the functions of an information section but one-television. He had
started a vigorous publications program, turning out leaflets, circulars and bulletins. He
had started the Conservationist magazine,
although at this stage it was only in tabloid
format and issued quarterly. He sent out a
weekly news release to all media. He had
begun a motion picture program with a film
lending library. He had involved the Department in radio work, and strengthened the
exhibit program. All these activities were useful in keeping the public informed of programs and services available to them, and
seeking its continued support. In addition,
he had begun the Department’s first educational effort, the Nature Knights. (He had
conceived the program in 1932, prior to
leaving the old Fish and Game Department,
but was unable to put it into effect under
the political conditions of the time.)
His successor, Harold Clover, started the
Department’s photo files when he hired a full
time photographer, Rex Gary Schmidt. The
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burgeoning publications program and the
magazine created a need for many more
photos than were currently available. Clover
changed the Conservationist format from a
quarterly tabloid to a monthly magazine with
the April, 1943, issue. He began use of two
colors, and the magazine became a more
powerful vehicle in wildlife and forestry information as circulation increased.
When it was first issued, the Conservationist carried a statement by Syd Stephens
on the first page explaining that the new publication was an experiment and that it would
be continued if Missourians welcomed it. The
experiment was greeted so enthusiastically
that there was never any doubt after the first
issue that it would be continued. The magazine rapidly became the most “visible” effort
of all the Department’s programs. The circulation-and the expense-grew so fast that it
frightened Godsey, who suggested placing a
twenty-five cent fee to help cover the postage
cost. This was approved, but became so cum-
Francis Mertens applies address labels to 1953 editions of the Missouri Conservationist.
Information Secretary Barbara Bales kept track of Conservationist subscriptions and labeled them with an
addressograph in 1952. Conservationist circulation rose from 10,000 in 1943 to over 450,000 in August,
1987.
bersome to collect that it was soon dropped.
The Conservationist remained free to Missouri subscribers and the Commission often
opined that spending money on it was probably the best thing they did.
Clover left the Department for military
service during World War II, and Charles
Callison served temporarily as Information
chief and editor. He had able assistance from
Charles W. Schwartz (who was developing his
artistic skills) and W. O. Nagel. Both were
transferred from the Fish and Game Division
during the war to help the Information effort.
After the war, Clover returned only
briefly, leaving for good in 1948 to start his
own motion picture company. Dan Saults was
his replacement. After returning from military
service, Saults had tried his hand at free-lance
writing without notable success and was looking for a job when Clover hired him as a
writer in 1947.
Although Harold Clover was the one who
changed the magazine into a more professionally presented publication, his main
strength lay in photography. It was Dan Saults
who brought the Conservationist to editorial
heights. Saults had been publisher of the
Knob Noster Gem before entering military
service in World War II. As editor of that
country weekly he had written vigorous editorials that attracted national attention. He
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Charles Callison, right, joined Dorris Frazier in a 1946 quail hunt. Callison served as editor of the
Missouri Conservationist from 1943 to his resignation in 1947. He went on to head the National Audubon
Society in Washington, D.C.
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brought that same vigor to the pages of the
Conservationist, with the full support of Sydney Stephens. While Bode recognized the
worth of the magazine in the Department’s
programs, he never had the feel for public
relations that Stephens had. It was Stephens
who supported Saults in his editorials, which
were winning the hearts and minds of readers
for conservation.
Bode was reorganizing education and information about that time. An Education
Section was created in 1942, attached to the
Administrative Division; Information existed
as a separate division. Most conservation
agencies in the country had combined these
two programs and Bode followed suit by creating an Information and Education Division
in 1948, with F. Olin Capps as chief, Harold
Clover as head of the Visual Section and Dan
Saults as head of the Publications Section.
When Clover left, Saults was made chief of
an Information Section, combining the Visual
and Publications sections. This organization
continued until 1958, when Director William
Towell abolished the Information and Education Division, assigning Education Section to
the new Field Division, and attaching Information Section to the director’s staff. Dan
Saults was promoted to assistant director, and
James F. Keefe was named to head the Information Section.
Under Keefe the magazine’s editorial
policies begun by Saults were continued. But
Saults so loved to write editorials that he continued to do so until he finally left the Department in 1964. He had served as editor of
the Missouri Conservationist for nine years
and continued to write most of the editorials
for another seven years.
Keefe, in addition to administering the
Department’s Information Section, served as
magazine editor for twenty-eight years, taking
it from a monthly circulation of 20,000 to
nearly 400,000 from 1957 to 1985, when he
retired as editor.2 During those years the
magazine won many honors. It was recog-
Werner O. Nagel was a creative force in the formation of early Department philosophy and goals.
Nagel created the character of Cy Littlebee, whose
homespun wisdom and humor educated thousands
of Missourians about conservation.
nized three years in a row by the Association
for Conservation Information as the best conservation magazine in the country. Its influence over the years has been profound and
it continues to be the single most visible
program of the Department. Articles deal with
programs and philosophies of the Department,
blending facts with humor in a mix attractive
to readers.
In 1983, a journalism student surveyed
the Conservationist readership and found
that readers had received the magazine an
average of nine years, and that over one million Missourians read at least a part of each
issue. Twenty-five percent of the survey respondents were women and almost half the households receiving the magazine had children
who also at least looked through it. Ages of
subscribers ran from six to ninety-nine years.
Out-of-state subscribers, who paid for their
2 Not enough recognition is given the managing editors of the magazine, who handle the day-to-day
production work. Past managing editors include Charles H. Callison (1943-44) who also was wartime editor
(1944-1947), W. O. Nagel (1944-1945), Glenn Hensley (1947), Raleigh A. Ward (1948), Ralph Pogue (1949.
1951) Darrell S. Meyer (1951-1953), Wilfred R. Nunn (1953-1955) J ames F. Keefe, editor (1957-1985) and
Johnson has been editor of the Consermanaging editor (1955-1961), Malcolm K. Johnson (1962-1985).
vationist since July 1, 1985.
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Information staffers in 1949 were, left to right: Don Wooldridge, photographer; Ken Wood, writer; Dan
Saults, Information chief; Ralph Pogue, associate editor; and Bill Gamble, radio and exhibits.
subscriptions, amounted to over eleven thousand. The state with the largest number of
subscribers was Illinois, with California second.
Among the nation’s conservation magazines, Missouri’s Conservationist has the largest circulation, reaches the greatest percentage of the population, and is envied and
imitated by the others. Although many fine
writers, artists and photographers have contributed to its pages, it remains largely staff
written and illustrated. Excellent wildlife photographs and artwork are a major feature,
and it was through the magazine that Donald
E. Wooldridge won national acclaim with his
wildlife photography. Charles W. Schwartz’
artistic talents were first launched in its pages.
But a host of other Department writers, pho-
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tographers and artists have contributed to its
success.
The Department enjoyed generally favorable press relations in its early years, with
few exceptions. But any department largely
administered by technicians is occasionally
misunderstood by the public and the press,
and the temperament of technicians is such
that they are often unable to utilize the news
media to best advantage. Sometimes the result can be small pockets of bad press because of minor misunderstandings.
It wasn’t until the 1950s that professional
press people were hired by the Department
to handle press relations. They have been
candid and open with the media, openly
courting the press’s understanding and co-
operation. This has resulted in a good climate
of press relations. Field personnel are given
basic training in working with newspapers,
radio and television stations, and urged to
make themselves available to the media.
Under Bode, who was distrustful of the
news media at first, such contacts were discouraged and any news release a local agent
wanted to make had to first be sent to the
Central Office for clearance. When it was
pointed out that these men had authority to
make decisions in the field on other matters
concerning the Department, some of them
even with the power of arrest, the policy was
relaxed. By training field men in basic news
elements, they could be relied upon to speak
locally in behalf of the Department with few
problems. From then on, field people were
urged to work closely with the local media.
In order to recognize field employees
who do an exceptional job in working with
the media, the Commission authorized an
employee communication contest, conceived
by Joel M. Vance, in 1984. Field people can
win prints of waterfowl or trout stamps for
excellence in radio broadcasts or television
programs, or newspaper columns. It has become an incentive for field personnel to
develop local media programs.
The news release or press handout is the
mainstay of most information programs, and
Missouri’s is no different. For many years the
Readers of the Conservationist and articles circulated to news outlets statewide enjoy the clarity and
humor of Writer/Publicist Joel Vance. Since joining the Department in 1969, Vance’s writing about the
outdoors has informed and entertained Missourians and won national acclaimfor the Department.
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first or second in international competition
of the Association for Conservation Information.
In a report that covered the period 19371939, there were eight printed bulletins and
circulars, plus a few mimeographed items
listed as available from the Department. As
programs in education, wildlife, fisheries and
forestry grew and expanded, and as research
brought new facts to light, the number of
publications expanded rapidly. By 1967, there
were over three hundred different printed
items. The number of publications and other
printed matter has grown steadily in the years
since. Of course, the Conservationist magazine and the Wildlife Code are the Department’s biggest publishing endeavors. Over a
million copies of the Code are printed each
year.
Author Keefe joined the Department in 1951; he
served as Information chief and Conservationist
editor before taking a year to research and write
The First Fifty Years in 1986.
Department has issued a regular weekly news
release package-initiated by James F. Keefethat is widely used by both the press and
broadcast news services.3 There are several
reasons for its acceptance. It is professionally
written and presented, and editors like a
release that needs a minimum of editing.
Editors can depend on its availability, weekin and week-out. It contains hard news and
features, not publicity puffs. Each week two
screened photos relating to the subject matter
are included, adding to the utility of the
release. It also deals with a subject that is of
interest to a great many readers. Surveys of
newspapers have shown that more than twentyfive percent of subscribers regularly read outdoor news or columns. Besides being accepted
by the news media of Missouri, the Department’s news program is consistently ranked
The Department proclaims its message with a
wealth of words-carefully edited, designed, illustrated and printed by Public Affairs staffers.
Securing printing outside the Department
was, and still is, a tedious process. Once an
item was written and checked, a request for
sealed bids was made through the Office of
Administration’s purchasing department.
When a bid was received and approved, copy
3 Since 1961, Joel M. Vance has taken the weekly release to new journalistic heights with features and
photographs that consistently win both state and national awards.
was sent to the printer, who set the type and
secured illustration. The item was sent back
for proofing and returned to the printer for
corrections. Then a dummy copy was made,
from which it was printed. This took months.
It required planning well ahead for needed
publications, and ordering enough copies so
as not to run out before having to go through
the process again. Often, the large orders resulted in printed matter becoming obsolete
before it could all be used.
When the Department’s printing and
mailing services were assigned to Information
Section for administration in 1958, publications took a quantum leap forward. lnformation was able to increase the personnel and
equipment to handle the increased demand
for printed matter .4 With modern phototypesetting, offset printing and binding equipment,
the Department has been able to do all these
operations in-house. Today all type is set on
modern phototypesetting machines. Editors,
with the assistance of a photography and art
staff, design, illustrate and lay out the publication. A well-trained printing and binding
staff takes the item to completion. It is sent
to the public through the mailing unit, which
also handles thousands of other mailings for
the Department.
Except for major printing jobs, such as
the Wildlife Code, book-length manuscripts,
the Conservationist magazine, and extremely
long-run items, most publications can be produced within the Department. This has meant
a savings in time and convenience, and less
loss through obsolescence of printed matter
in storage. Today only enough copies are
printed to fill short-term needs, and a new
publication can get into print when needed,
rather than months later.
The first hardcover book published by the
Commission appeared in 1944, and grew out
of research work by Charles W. Schwartz on
prairie chickens. Entitled The Prairie Chicken
The print shop prints or reprints over 3,000 brochures, booklets, leaflets or signs a year.
4 The Department’s printing program’s success is largely attributable to the expertise and administrative
ability of Wilburn E. Hoskins, printing and mailing supervisor since 1980, who initiated a vigorous printing
program beginning in 1962.
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Staff artists render the conservation message for
all sections and divisions of the Department. Above,
Dave Besenger creates the preliminary sketch for
thefiftieth anniversary poster.
in Missouri, it was a beautiful book, illustrated with Schwartz’ fine photographs of Missouri prairie and prairie chickens. But the
volume had limited distribution and was never
very popular, although today it has become a
collector’s item.
The Rivers of Missouri, issued in 1949
for twenty-five cents a copy, was a paperback
with articles on twelve of the more noted
rivers in the state. Most of the articles were
reprints from the Conservationist magazine,
and the intent was to focus attention on plans
for damming or otherwise altering the streams
of the state and the significance of such
actions. It was an extremely popular book.
In an effort to document its origins, the
Commission hired Charles Callison to write a
history of the Conservation Federation and
its campaign to create the nation’s first nonpolitical game, fish and forest management
agency. Man and Wildlife in Missouri was
published by the Stackpole Company in 1953,
with financial assistance from the Love Foundation. The Department has since reprinted
the book on its own.
The Department’s next book publishing
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venture was a paperback book authored by
Werner O. Nagel entitled Cy Littlebee’s Guide
to Cooking Fish and Game. The Department
felt that utilization of the products of field
and stream was important as a conservation
measure, hence the decision to publish a fish
and game cook book. Nagel, who was a fine
amateur chef, compiled the book from his
own recipes and those sent in by readers of
the Conservationist. First appearing in 1959,
it has gone through ten printings-some
70,000 copies-and still remains a popular
item.
The same month the cook book appeared,
The Wild Mammals of Missouri, by Charles
W. and Elizabeth R. Schwartz, was issued
jointly by the Department and the University
of Missouri Press. The Commission approved
contracting with the Press in 1957 to jointly
publish the book, which the Schwartzes had
been working on for a number of years. It
has gone through several editions and revisions since, and is one of the Press’ most
popular sellers.
In 1965, the Department brought out the
paperback Missouri Ozark Waterways by Dr.
Artist Charles Schwartz gets a firm grasp of the
details of bat anatomy in this 1959 photo.
The collaboration of Elizabeth Schwartz, above,
with her husband Charles produced the classic
book on Missouri wildlife, The Wild Mammals of
Missouri, first published in 1959.
Oz Hawksley. It was a book of maps of twentytwo major float streams in the state, with
descriptive narrative, floating tips and even
travel hints alongside. Hawksley had offered
the manuscript to the State Division of Commerce and Industrial Development, but it was
not interested in the manuscript, nor did it
have authority to charge for copies. That
agency brought Hawksley’s work to the Department and offered to provide cartographic
assistance if the Department would publish
the book. Like the cookbook, Waterways has
been through many editions and is also a
best seller with over 172,000 copies distributed.
Werner O. Nagel took on the assignment
of updating the Bennitt and Nagel study, A
which was published in 1970. In it he not
only updated the earlier work with respect to
game animals and furbearers, but included
chapters on the other activities of the Department during the years 1937 to 1970.
Retired Union Electric Company executive Edgar Denison appeared in the Department’s office one day in 1971, with a cigar
box full of flower pictures and an offer to
write a Missouri wildflower guide. There was
considerable interest in such a book on the
part of the public and the Commission approved its publication. Missouri Wildflowers,
by Edgar Denison appeared in 1972, and has
gone through several revisions and printings
since. Nearly 70,000 copies have been sold.
In 1974, the Department issued Missouri
Hiking Trails, by Ramon Gass. A forester
and enthusiastic hiker himself, Gass devoted
the book to hiking possibilities on Department
lands. Some 40,000 copies have been printed.
The following year, 1975, the Department published Dr. William Pflieger’s The Fishes of
Missouri, an authoritative work on all species
of fish known to exist in the state.
Following adoption of the conservation
sales tax and the Design for Conservation
in 1976, the book publishing program was
Survey of the Resident Game and Furbearers
of Missouri, first published in 1937. Director
William E. Towell thought that a new book,
dealing with the strides made since the Conservation Commission came into existence,
would be of considerable interest to conservationists. Nagel wrote Conservation Contrasts,
sub-titled “Three decades of non-political management of wildlife and forests in Missouri,”
Books provide detailed information about the state’s
wild resources, from bats and butterflies to trees
and waterways.
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put on a systematic basis. Its intent is primarily to publish high quality books about
the wildlife, flora and environment of the
state, but also to consider publishing significant scientific literature which, because of
limited commercial potential, might not otherwise be published. Books are priced as closely
as possible to recover publication costs.
Three books were published in 1980:
Wild Edibles of Missouri, by Jan Phillips,
Wildlife Drawings, by Charles W. Schwartz,
edited by Michael S. McIntosh, and A Key to
Missouri Trees in Winter, by Jerry Cliburn
and Virginia Klomps. In 1981, Missouri
Orchids, by Bill Summers was issued.
A Field Guide to Missouri Ferns, by
James S. Key, and Missouri Conservation
Melodies, by Dixie Calvert Fine appeared in
1982. A guide to the freshwater mussels of
Missouri, Missouri Naiades, by Ronald D.
Oesch, was published in 1984. In 1986, the
Department brought out a pictorial guide to
Missouri mosses, liverworts and lichens entitled Walk Softly Upon the Earth, by Lisa
Potter Thomas and Dr. James R. Jackson.
Following Godsey’s production of the
motion picture Back to Missouri, filmed by
a hired motion picture company, the Department began its own production of films. The
team of Charles and Elizabeth Schwartz,
trained biologists, undertook the job. Charles
had developed his artistic and photographic
Biologists Charles and Elizabeth Schwartz combined their skills to produce Department films. Their movie
Bobwhite Through the Year won the CONI Grand Medal at the International Sports Film Festival in Rome
in 1952.
248
Cinematographer Thomas J. Troughton
has produced films on fishing small lakes,
squirrel and deer hunting, the Department’s
natural areas, and trout and catfish rearing.
Gary Griffen produced films on the work of
professional conservationists in protecting and
preserving the environment, and problems of
wildlife on Missouri farms. Lorna Domke produced a film on Missouri’s wildflowers. In all,
over thirty motion pictures have been produced by Department employees, helping immeasurably to inform and educate Missourians
about their resources. Most of those films
have won honors for the Department in various competitions, and are eagerly sought by
other conservation departments across the
nation.6 All films now are converted to videotape as well, for use by schools, organizations
and individuals.
Besides motion pictures, the section has
developed slide and filmstrip shows on dif-
Filming the phenomena of nature takes an eye for
form and movement-and plenty of patience. Here
Motion Picture Specialist Lorna Domke is on location for her 1987 wildflower film, Blooming Secrets.
skills, and Elizabeth was an excellent researcher and sound technician, capturing
natural sounds of the wild for the films.
Several short pictures were made, but they
hit the bigtime in 1952 with the feature
motion picture, Bobwhite Through the Year.
That film won an international award, the
CONI Grand Medal, at the International
Sports Film Festival in Rome, where it had
been entered by the U. S. State Department.
Their life history film, Cottontail also won
honors there.
In the years following, the Schwartzes
produced movies on mourning doves, mallards, wild turkeys, Canada geese, songbirds,
life in an Ozarks headwaters stream, the enjoyment of free-flowing streams, wildflowers,
prairies, predation, wildlife habitat and box
turtles.5
Thousands of rolls of film are processed in the
Public Affairs photo lab. All sections and divisions
make use of photography staffers’ expertise and
get able assistancefrom Dawn Drainer, above.
5 Biologist Glen Chambers worked with the Schwartzes in motion picture production for several years,
before resigning to become a Ducks Unlimited representative.
6 Script writers for Department motion pictures include W. O. Nagel, J. F. Keefe, J. M. Vance and J. H.
Auckley.
249
ferent aspects of conservation, to be used in
training employees and educating the public.
They are on loan through the section’s film
loan library. Working with the Education Section, copies are provided free of charge to
schools.
The use of exhibits to explain Department programs and inform citizens about
their resources has vastly increased since the
early days, when exhibits were limited to the
State Fair and an occasional sports show.
During the war years, travel restrictions curtailed exhibit efforts, but after World War II
the Department outfitted a trailer exhibit that
toured small county and regional fairs with
good results. But with the advent of television,
local fairs went into a decline for a few years
and exhibits went into the doldrums, too.
Exhibits at the State Fair pavilion of the
Department7 continued, but the trailer was
retired. Then fairs began a comeback. The
Department entered into agreements with
several regional fairs, where permanent display buildings were constructed to house Department exhibits. Springfield, Bethany, Cape
Public Affairs exhibits still make the rounds of regional fairs like this one in Cape Fair where a
youngster admires a 1963 version of Smokey the
Bear.
The State Fair Pavilion at Sedalia draws tens of thousands of visitors a year to see exhibits of fish,
forestry and wildlife. The pavilion was extensively renovated in 1986 to create a 100-seat auditorium for
viewing programs, slide presentations and films.
7 This structure of Missouri granite was built by WPA labor in 1934; it replaced an earlier wood pavilion.
Skilled carpenters create attractive exhibits for use
statewide in school programs, hunting and fishing
day events, and fairs. Charles Robinson is shown
above with a white-tailed deer exhibit.
Girardeau and West Plains regional fairs now
host Department displays. Exhibits, formerly
handled as a side line by one of the Information staff, soon grew too big. In 1970, the
Department hired a full-time staffer to construct its own exhibits rather than buying them
commercially.
Today, the exhibit program includes a
three-man staff and shop that turns out exhibits for use at the State Fair pavilion (completely renovated in 1985), regional fairs and
nearly a hundred smaller fairs and shows each
year. Exhibits are prepared for special meetings as well, such as agricultural field days,
educational meetings, and special events like
Prairie Days, Wildlife Week and National
Hunting and Fishing Day.
Radio began to be more fully utilized as
an informational tool in the 1950s when field
men (especially conservation agents), field
service agents, educational advisors and foresters were freed to use the medium. They
were given basic instruction in broadcast
techniques and provided with scripts to help
them get started. They became so proficient
at it that they soon developed their own
material-as many as fifty might be conducting programs over local radio stations at any
time.
About the same time, the Department
again began distributing radio shows of thirteen-week, fifteen-minute programs devoted to
forest fire prevention. These were developed
by Herschel P. “Woody” Bledsoe, who began
his career with the Department as a lookout
towerman and went on to run the Showboat
for the Forestry Division. He was eventually
transferred to Information Section where he
demonstrated a showman’s flair, playing the
guitar and singing songs that country folks
could identify with. Mixing songs with gentle
folksy chats on the destructiveness of woods
fires Bledsoe, as “Woody, the Singing Forester,” won a large following over the state
-and not just in the Ozarks. In 1962, he
changed the programs from forest fire prevention, which had largely been accomplished,
to wildlife habitat improvement for upland
game.
Hershel P. “Woody” Bledsoe was hired as a lookout towerman in 1942. He found fighting fires with
a guitar as “Woody, the Singing Forester” reached
a lot more people.
Television came along in the 1950s and,
in the days before strong network program-
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ming, stations were glad to have outdoor
shows conducted by Department personnel.
Paul G. Barnickol, then superintendent of
fisheries research in Columbia, and Bill T.
Crawford, his counterpart in wildlife research,
jointly hosted an outdoor show for several
years over KOMU-TV. Conservation Agent
Clarence “Salty” Daniel also conducted an
outdoor show over KODE-TV in Joplin. Herschel Bledsoe had a long-running weekly program over KRCG-TV in Jefferson City. These
were popular with viewers but eventually were
dropped, either by the stations or the participants, because of other job pressures.
Department personnel appear as guests
on various television programs, some of them
regularly. Cable company stations especially
like having Department personnel and programs in their local origin broadcasts. Television public service “spots” have been prepared and issued from time to time, which
receive good use by stations.
In 1984-1985, an expanded Department
television program was launched by Deborah
Rogers. Growing out of a monthly television
show over KOMU-TV in Columbia, it utilizes
the services of a professional crew to videotape outdoor features for use on the program.
The videotapes are then distributed to stations
and local Department personnel for use. By
mid-1986, they were being seen regularly on
a number of commercial TV stations. In some
cases features are transmitted to stations by
satellite up-link. The “magazine-type” format,
using short features on various conservation
activities, lends itself well to such programming.
In 1982, the Commission requested a
study be made of all Department public information efforts and Dan Forrestal, author of a
definitive public relations handbook and longtime public relations head of Monsanto Inc.,
undertook the job. After studying all aspects
of the program, he concluded that only minor
adjustments were needed. He suggested dropping a logo used on Design for Conservation
activities as needlessly confusing. He also
suggested upgrading the appearance of the
Conservationist magazine by going to a better grade of paper. He recommended a motion picture be made on the work of professional conservationists-its relation to the
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public and impact on the environment. His
most ambitious recommendation was for the
Department to employ media specialists in
Kansas City and St. Louis. Nearly all of his
recommendations were adopted, though a
media specialist position has not been implemented in Kansas City because a job change
there freed up the metropolitan services coordinator to handle media relations.
Beginning in 1986, Jonathan D. Powers
has had overall responsibility for the section
which is organized in three units: publications,
visual and news services. The publications unit
is headed by Malcolm K. Johnson, supervising
the magazine, other publications, art, typesetting, and printing and mailing. The visual
unit is headed by Mark H. Sullivan, supervising photography, motion pictures, multimedia production, film loan library, radio and
television and exhibits. Joel M. Vance handles
the writing/news services program.
Malcolm K. Johnson joined the Information staff
in 1961 as managing editor of the Conservationist
and supervisor of Department publications. He
became the magazine’s editor in 1985.
The Information Section was re-named
the “Public Affairs Section” in 1986, but its
mission remains the same: to inform the
public of Department programs and services,
and to solicit citizens’ support through all
available media.
The success of information efforts is
shown in the Department’s successes in forestry, wildlife, fisheries and other endeavors. But
those successes are not the Public Affairs
Section’s alone.
Over the years there has evolved in the
Department a policy that every employee is
obligated to explain programs and enlist public support of them. This is implicit in the
change of title from “game warden” to “conservation agent.” It is implicit in creation of
the field service agent positions. It is implicit
in the establishment of the metro-services
offices in St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield
and elsewhere. Biologists, foresters and administrators are expected to take part in
public meetings, to make personal appearances on radio, television, at press conferences-whenever the opportunity arises. Every
new employee gets training in basic informational techniques, and many get occasional
refresher courses. Each is expected to be acquainted with the operations of the Department and have some familiarity with what
other arms of the Department are doing. In
this way, the formal information effort is
magnified many times, to the success of all
the Department’s efforts.
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